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TOOELE COUNTY -- Stansbury Park High Schoolis only in its first year, but already school officials are hoping to do something they believe will be the first of its kind in Utah.
The school is hoping to make its library available for public use.
"Here in the Stansbury Park area, or even in northern Tooele County, we don't have a public library," said Stansbury Park High School Principal Kendall Topham.
The plan is still in the early stages, but if approved, it'll start in the fall of 2010 with the new school year.
"I get about one person, at least, a week from the public asking if it's a public library yet," said Stansbury Park High School librarian Kim Foss. "They want to use computers or check out books or just have a place to kind of hang and relax and read."
Currently, Stansbury Park residents have to drive 15 minutes to Tooele or 20 minutes to Grantsville to use a library.
Residents can also wait for the Book-Mobile to visit the area.
"It's going to be a big change, but I'm really excited about it because I want information for everybody. I think everybody should be able to read and use computers, and the community really needs it," said Foss.
Topham says the initial plan is to have volunteers operate the library a few hours after classes.
He also thinks this public partnership would be a way for Tooele County to save money because the county wouldn't have to build a new library in the future if one is ever planned.
"We've got a nice facility here, and I think it would be great that it's something that gets used not just by our students and staff, but also by the public," said Topham.
Topham also believes this partnership would be a first in Utah.
He's looking at schools in Idaho, Colorado and South Dakota where similar partnerships have been successful.
"There are always details, there are always things you need to work through and things that need to be smoothed out, but I think we're headed in the right direction," said Topham.
Items that still need to be worked on before becoming a reality include deciding on having volunteers staff the library for public use, or pay overtime to current staff.
Officials also have to decide what days and times the public will be allowed to use the library.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
